Dick DeVos Is A Businessman Involved In Politics Too

Dick DeVos is a highly successful businessman who is involved in the world politics too. Dick DeVos along with his wife have both spent a lot of money in lobbying for a number of conservative issues. These include school vouchers, the right to work legislation and much more.

Dick DeVos comes from a rich background. He is the son of Richard DeVos, whose net worth is approximate $5.1 billion. Richard DeVos is the founder of Amway which is a multi-level marketing company.

Dick DeVos had started working in Amway during the 70s. It was in 1984 that he became its Vice-President. Another source of wealth for Richard DeVos’ is sports. He owns the Orlando Magic basketball team, which he bought in 1991. Dick DeVos was appointed as the president and CEO of this team. Later on, he became the president of Amway. He left it after two years in order to work with his own firm, The Windquest Group. This is an investment management company.

He entered the political arena by being the Republican nominee as he stood for the 2006 election for the governor of Michigan. During this campaign, he spoke about the issues of jobs and economy. He said that he would be making the state friendlier for doing business. This would be achieved by cutting taxes as well as regulations. He pointed to his business experience to ensure people that he can get this done. But he was easily defeated by his rival, Granholm who won the election by 14 percentage points.

It was in 1993 that Dick DeVos and his wife became the co-chairs of the Education Freedom Fund. It is a fund that is giving scholarships to various low-income families in Michigan. This way it allows them to attend a private school as per their own choice.

He has been working towards providing parents the opportunity of choosing a school and sending their child to it.

Another political issue that is close to Dick DeVos is the right-to-work laws. He strongly supports laws that are allowing employees to work without being forced to join any union. Obviously, the unions are strongly opposing this.

Dick DeVos organized a campaign in Michigan in 2012. This was for passing the right-to-work law. He spent $1.75 million in order to fight against the unions. He backed Protecting Michigan Taxpayers and spent nearly $23 million on this campaign. Ultimately Michigan Governor Rick Snyder had to give in. He enacted legislation that banned any mandatory union membership. Michigan is the 24th state in the US to do so.